A CORRESPONDENT
HAFLONG: The Dimasa Students' Union (DSU) and many other organizations have appealed to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to reconsider the decision to abolish the Hill Area Department (HAD), stated Pramith Sengyung, general secretary of Dimasa Students' Union, in press meet on Friday.
Sengyung observed that the abolition of the HAD was intended to disrupt the welfare of the hill district of Assam. The decision was against the interest of hill tribes people, it was part of the larger design to politically exterminate Karbi, Dimasa and other hill tribes people of Karbi Anglong (bifurcated in 2016) and Dima Hasao.
He said that the DSU and other organizations strongly condemned the 'anti-hill tribe people' attitude of a section of the Assamese leaders and the State Government. They would prefer Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao to be separated from Assam to save the hill tribe people from being politically exterminated.
"The categorization of the Scheduled Tribe of Assam into two categories in the
Presidential Order, 1950, as amended from time to time, is a constitutional safeguard provided to the hill tribe people. It has been necessitated by the socio-cultural dissimilarities between the hill and plain tribes of the State caused by the physical environment prevalent in the hill areas and the natural characteristics of the hill tribe people. The wide disparities between the hill and plain tribes in their stages of development still exist," said Sengyung.
He added, "Initially, the Sixth Schedule had been framed as a different sort of scheme exclusively for administration of the then six Hill Districts of Assam specified in Part A of the table appended to Paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule, as it was first enacted with provision of application of the provision to Part B areas. We have no objection against the extension of the provision to other tribes and areas of the State of Assam, but we have strong objection to the cabinet's decision to bring the two categories of tribes of the State under one department. We, through the press, appeal to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to reconsider the decision to abolish the Hill Area Department. Also, we appeal to HAD Minister Sum Ronghang, four other MLAs from the hill area and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) and the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council (DHAC) to raise their voice against the decision. Failure on the part of the State cabinet to reconsider its decision immediately will compel us to recourse to full-scale agitation."
They registered their protest against the State cabinet's decision to abolish the Hill Areas Department (HAD) replacing it with the Sixth Schedule Area Department. Recently, the State cabinet had taken a decision to constitute Sixth Schedule Area Department and to abolish the existing Hill Areas Department.